Concordia goes (fair trade) bananas!

Concordia took its designation as a Fair Trade Campus one step further this January. The university’s Food Services is now the first in Canada to offer 100 per cent fair-trade bananas.

Vanessa D’Antico is the health, wellness and sustainability manager for Aramark.

“Fair trade ensures that producers get a proper wage, operate in improved and safer working conditions and receive an additional social premium to invest in their communities,” she says.

Concordia bananas will now be supplied by local Fair-trade-certified fruit importer Equifruit. The fruit comes from a cooperative of small producers in Ecuador.

“Paying a fair wage and social premium empowers producers and allows them to reinvest in local communities with programs in education, health care, senior citizens, environmental projects and infrastructure improvements,” says Kim Chackal, Equifruit’s sales manager.

Moving forward, anytime you see a banana or eat a tasty banana-based treat offered by Concordia Food Services, you can be assured it’s fair trade.

Lunchtime events with fun giveaways and further details are scheduled for the week of January 30. Meet the organizers behind this achievement Monday at Hall Café 4 (The Green Beet), Tuesday at SP Café (The Market), Wednesday at Buzz Dining Hall and Thursday at the Grey Nuns Dining Hall.